Well its finally warming up some and the bizzards oughta be over for the season. I've had a few setbacks with Sadie but out retraining her again and she coming along fine now. Thought I'd lost her a couple of times allready in her young life , she got Parvo and recovered from it and then had a serious shoulder injury and healed up after a month or so . Life will hand you things that you can't plan for ; but like me , Sadie's no quiter !--- --. I just got working her in the yard doing retrieveing excerises and now heading to the local lake for some water work . Hopefully this second time training will go a little faster since we allready went over all this before and I was just working on force fetch when we had the interuption in the training . Probally since she has no pedigree I'll have to get her spaded and I don't really want to go thru all the puppy stuff for awhile again (she's one of the 11 puppies my Dam Coco had ) even with the setback she oughta be ready for dove and teal season this year. I use the Chris Akin DVD and method of training starting with the "Duck Dog Basics" DVD .

Yeah Willie Sadie's back where we left off allready and its back to her force training ---she's a lot more dominate then her mom and they couldn't be more different and be trained differently ! CoCo her mom is a super laidback gentle natured dog who gets along with anyone, light handed training was best for her . Sadie her pup is a hard headed charger and just wants to things her way doesn't like strangers and fights me on everything --- -- Her force training is going along fine but will probally take longer then the average dog . The important part I've experianced is how much and when to apply pressure , and when to backoff,you apply too much and it can break their spirit, coward them , or turn them aggressive ; too little and you end up with an unreliable retriever .

Great looking dog! By the summary of things it looks like she has been through quite a bit. She is probably just as glad to be out working in the yard as you are after going through the setbacks. I am just getting ready to receive a new pup. It has taken me a couple years to get back the desire to start the training process all over again after enjoying the finished product of a black lab that was a complete joy to train and be around. Karma tells me this next pup could be a complete challenge versus the last one. Regardless I am looking forward to the journey.

Yeah Summit I don't give up on my dogs , its a lifetime comintment . Some of my family say they wouldn't spend that much time and money on a dog , but then they aren't duck hunters . I went allmost a decade between dogs before getting Coco , partly because I was moving a lot during the 90's and wouldn't be around enough to train and hunt her much. Sadie might just be my last hunting dog , hopefully I'll be in my mid sixties by the time she passes on or retires from hunting , probally about about the time I retire too . Its nice having a fully trained dog that can still hunt while training another . I've never done it that way before I've allways waited for my dog was too bad of shape to hunt anymore or had passed on. Its usally about the 10th year they start slowing down and I've had a couple that hunted till they were 12 years old then retired them. Its allways hard to look in your old dogs eyes when you grab your decoys,gun and waders and they know they you are going hunting , but you know its best not to take them. Good luck on your new pup Summit and enjoy every minute of it , it allways goes by too quick . The journey is what it is all about !

One of the things I am starting to look for is a resource to buy some birds. Pigeons, quail, duck, not incredibly convicted as to the type to do some training in the upcoming months. Are there any places out there that people would be willing to share to pick up a few birds? I haven't totally given up on trying to trap some pigeons, but i would just as soon buy a few if anyone knows of a place, someone to pick up some birds on the west side of the state.

Summit trapping pigeons was pretty easy back in KC , hide the traps under the over passes along the hyways and go back and check them every few days , I got plenty that away . First make a pigeon coup , I wouldn't bother with quail or ducks unless you have the room to take care of them , and pigeons are one tough birds and easier to take care of. We had a guy that bred and trained Labs nearby and he allways had extra birds that he sold or gave me . After he moved away a freind of mine and me started making traps and coups and little jackets we put on the birds made out of canvas (empty shot bags) and reused them many times. I kept quail and chuckers before ,but they weren't as tough as those pigeons . Let me know if find a resource for birds I'd be willing to travel to pickup a couple dozen for training too . I had a guy locally in KC that sold gamebirds , but he quit or moved a long time ago too. I'll start searching too because you need to have your young dogs training retrieve live birds as well as bumpers.

I have put out a couple of calls looking for birds. I travel a good deal north in IA and MN and I have identified a couple options up there, but I am really looking closer to home. May not have any other options. I will keep my ears open and let you know what I find out. I am also looking to join KC Hunting Retrievers Club. They might have some info, I am sure they get birds for their trials and fun test they host. WIll shoot you a PM when I find out more from that source of Informaiton.

Another question I have you or someone might be able to answer...on MDC areas that allow for dog training certain months (i.e. James A Reed) what are you allowed to use this area for as far as training? Are you able to plant birds and train?

Think you need to have a "Dog Training Permit" for training dogs on CA's and some like James A Reed have a desinated area for training dogs. I use to run in pointing dogs trials up there among others in Missouri and Kansas ; and to keep gamebirds (IE pigeons,quail,chuckers ,ducks and pheasants) ect. you suppose to have a gamebird hobbie permit or something . If you have nosesy nieghbors like I did back in KC , its best you get them . --- --. Surprize sometimes that the state doesn't make you have a garden permit you have to have for growing veggies --

BigMuddy wrote:Think you need to have a "Dog Training Permit" for training dogs on CA's and some like James A Reed have a desinated area for training dogs. I use to run in pointing dogs trials up there among others in Missouri and Kansas ; and to keep gamebirds (IE pigeons,quail,chuckers ,ducks and pheasants) ect. you suppose to have a gamebird hobbie permit or something . If you have nosesy nieghbors like I did back in KC , its best you get them . --- --. Surprize sometimes that the state doesn't make you have a garden permit you have to have for growing veggies --

Wrong dont need anything! Now if a certain area has a "dog training spot" then you have to be there but dont need any permits to have training birds! Heck its not illegal to own pigeons ducks pheasants etc.. people have all those animals on there farms! No permit required

"Some people pride themselves on how far they can shoot ducks others pride themselves on how close they can get them. I'm an other!!! "John Stephens RNT

Yeah Summit I wasn't sure what I needed , so I bought them all--lol. I also had a callback pen on private land and all my bought captured quail were tagged. You leave a few in pen and have a entrance to pen that quail could enter but not get out . The quail in pen would call the released quail back into pen for the night . This was when I had pointing dogs and mainly upland bird hunted . We also had bird throwers that we loaded them up in a sling and would release them by throwing them in the air 5 or 6 feet high when we pushed a button . I was really into the pointing dog trial thing back then and had a Brittany that was out of the Rustic Prince bloodline . She passed her AKC Senior test before she was 2 years old and Master test before 4 years old . Was it worth all the time and money ?-- -- I'm not sure , but her puppies sold for $500.00 and up ! She had two litters of 16 pups total and I sold 15 of them in two years time so probally broke about even ? By the end of the 90's quail and pheasants all but dissappeared locally and I was into duck hunting by then and started buying and training and hunting Labs. Lately since I've moved here I've flushed several coveys of quail at local CA's and hopefully they are making a comeback ! Sadie as it turns out is a pointing Lab and will probally be better at upland hunting then her mom Coco , but I won't do any special training for it .